Samuel eussell



(No Model.)

s. RUSSELL. ELBGTRIG GUN.`

No. 337.873. .PtenfedMar. ,'16, 1886.

By his tofmeyS,

N PETERS. Phulo Llhagrnplwr. Washinglan. D. C.

WITN ESSE :Nrn Srnrns SAMUEL RUSSELL, OF BROOKLYN, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN ELECTRIC 1 ARMS AND AMMUNITION COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ELECTRIC GUN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 337,873, dated March 16, 1886.

Application iiled May 27, 1885. Serial No. 166,820.

.To @ZZ whom t may concern;

Be it known that I, SAMUEL RUSSELL, a citizen of the United States, residing in Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Guns, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates in general to guns for firing electric cartridges, and in particular to such guns as close the circuit to the cartridge by means of a movable electric iiringpin or electrode moved forward by the pulling of the trigger.

An electric cartridge suitable for firing by this gun is embodied in my Patent No. 307,071, dated October 2l, 1884. My improved gun is not, however, confined to the use of the cartridge therein described.

In my Patent No. 307,070, dated October 2l, 1884, for electric gun, I have described an electric gun wherein the circuit is closed by a firing-pin or electrode being pushed forward by the trigger until its front end makes electrical contact with the cartridge as applied particularly to a shotgun the barrels of which break down7 to open the breech.

In an application for patent executed this day, to be led simultaneously herewith, I have shown and described a bolt-gun and other guns with movable breech-blocks and immovable barrels provided with an improved construction of electric firing devices.

My present invention relates to breechloading guns having immovable barrels, and in which the breech-block is arranged to move in a vertical plane in order to open the breech and permit the insertion of the cartridge. The well-known Spencer repeating shotgun is a type of gun of this class, andI have selected it to illustrate the embodiment of my invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is aside elevation, on a reduced scale, of a Spencer repeating shotgun with its breech in section, showing the battery. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal mid-section, on a larger scale, of the breech portion of the gun. Fig. 3 is an elevation, on the same scale as Fig. 2, but looking in the opposite direction, of the breech-block, iiringpin, trigger, and trigger-lock removed. Fig.

(No model.)

the vibrating breech-block, F, the firing-pin;

H, the firing-pin spring or retractingspring;

T, the trigger, and M the magazine-tube.

N in Fig. l is the sliding block by means of which the loading mechanism is worked. O is one of the slides connected thereto, and P is the mainspring for throwing up the breech-block. These parts are all of the usual construction common in the Spencer repeating shotgun, which is so well known as to require no description. Only the tiring-pin F and trigger T are altered. The former is bored through or made tubular, and in it is placed an insulated metal contact-pin, I, which I term an electrode This pin, which is preferably of hard metal, is insulated from the iring-pin by a tubular sheath, f, of hard rubber or other insulating substance, and projects 'beyond the firing-pin at both ends, its front end passing through an insulating-bushing, la, in the front of the breech-block, and its rear end sliding through a hole in a metal plate, e, and thereby making electrical contact with said plate.

The electric battery J is placed in the stock of the gun,its opposite poles being connected, respectively, to Wires a and b, the former of which leads to any convenient part of the metallic frame of the gun, and thereby connects with either the barrel or breech-block, or both, and the latter leads to the plate e. Thus the electrode I constitutes one terminal of the batterycircuit,while the barrel and breech-block constitute the other terminal thereof.

' The metal plate or connection e is arranged in as close proximity as is convenient to the pivot E, for obvious reasons.

The usual hammer employedin the Spencer repeater to strike the rear of the ring-pin and drive it against the cartridge is entirely removed from the gun, and the trigger T is connected directly With the firing-pin, so that IOO . of the latter.

t impinges.

displacement.

by pulling the trigger the iiringpin will be pushed forward and the electrode will be brought into contact with the cartridge, thereby closing the circuit through the latter and exploding it. When the trigger is released, the ringpin and electrode are retracted by the spring I'I. As the breech-block E, in which the firing-.pin is mounted, is pivoted at E', and vibrates about this pivot between the three positions shown in Fig. 4;, it is necessary that the trigger shall be connected with the ringpin in such manner as to admit of this movement and yet nevertheless insure thatV the pulling of the trigger when the breech-block is in the intermediate or firing position shall effect the pressing forward of the firing-pin and electrode. It is also desirable that the connection shall be such that if the trigger still remains pulled when the breech-block commences its vibratory movement the firingpin shall free itself from the trigger and be pressed back by its spring before it has moved i'ar enough to injure the projecting front end of the electrode. The connection shown is well adapted to perform these conditions. The triggeris made with anat spring-arm or elastic plate, t, which extends upward to the firingpin, being notched at t to receive the rear end The rear portion of the firingpin is flattened on one side where it comes against the spring-plate t, the front of this nattened portion forming a shoulder, u, against which the front edge of the platet in the notch Fig. 5 shows the connecting parts of the pin and trigger in the firing position of the breechblock, the plate tof the latter being in section. Vhen the trigger is pulled, the front edge of the plate t bears against the shoulder u and presses the firingpin forward. If the reloading movement be made while the trigger is still held, the rst upward movement of the breech-block carries the pin F out of the notch t', so that the shoulder u is no longer held by the trigger, and the spring H presses the pin back, thus drawing in the projecting front end ofthe electrode I. The spring-plate tyields laterally to permit of this The connection of the trigger with the ring-pinvis arranged so near to the pivot E that the movement of the firing-pin due to the vibration of the breech-block is insufficient to disconnect them. The trigger has a slot formed in its lower portion, in which is arranged a locking-bar, Z,which turns in fixed bearings in the breech-plates of the gun, and on the outside of the breech is connected to 1 an arm or lever, L, by which it is turned.

be freely pulled, its lower portion moving into this notch; but when the lock is turned as Y shown in Figs. l and 3 the trigger is locked cartridge,and the gun is safe.

. and cannot be pulled, and consequently the electrode cannot be moved forward against the The lower arm,

j. w, of the` trigger is not essential to the lock.

This trigger-lock can be applied to act on any convenient part of the trigger, and it is not conned in its application to this form of trigger. It is to be observed that this lock is applied manually instead of applying itself automatieally in loading, like the lock shown in my said patent.

As applied to the character ofgun hereinbefore described, my invention has the advantage of dispensing with the hammer, thereby obviating the jar due to the fall of the hammer, and rendering the gun less laborious to y operate,since the movement of the slide by the left hand has only7 to eject the spent shell and transfer a new cartridge to the barrel, being relieved of the necessity of cooking the hammer.

My invention is applicable to all breechloading or magazine guns wherein the breechrblock moves in a vert-ical plane, whether its motion be parallel or vibratory.

If other than a vibratory motion be given to the breech-block, the method of making the electrical connection between the battery and the electrode will need to be modified.

I claim as my inventionl. In a breech-loading gun having immovable barrel and a movable breech-block, the combination, with the breechblock mounted to move in a vertical plane to open and close the breech, of an insulated circuit-closing electrode mounted in and borne by said breechblock and moving with the latter and having an independent movement therein toward and from the cartridge, a battery or equivalent source of electric energy, its opposite terminals connected, respectively, to said electrode opposite terminals j oined,respectively,to said connection and to the gun-barrel or breechblock, and the trigger connected to said electrode at a point adjacent to the pivot of the breech-block and adapted, when pulled, to move said electrode forward into contact with the cartridge, substantially as set forth.

3. In a breech-loading gun, the combination, with immovable barrel and vibrating breech-block, of an insulated circuit-closing electrode mounted in and borne by said breechblock and having an independent movement therein toward and from the cartridge, a battery connected at its opposite terminals to said electrode and to the gun-barrel or breechblock, respectively, and the trigger formed IOO IIO

IIS

with an elastic arm engaging the said electrode and adapted, when the breech-block is in the position for firing, to press forward the electrode upon being pulled, and to be laterally displaced and disengaged upon the movement of the breech-block, substantially as set forth.

4. 'Ille co1nbination,with a pivoted breechblocl, E, vibrating in a vertical plane, of a firing-pin, F, mounted therein and adapted to move longitudinally, a shoulder, u, formed thereon, a trigger, T, having elastic plate t notched attJ and adapted to engage said shoulder, an insulated electrode, I, in said firingpin, and a battery, J, in connection therewitl., substantially as set forth.

5. In a breech-loading gun having an immovable barrel and a movable breechblock, the combination,with said breech-block, of an insulated circuit-closing electrode mounted therein and moving therewith and capable of a movement of its own toward and from the cartridge, a retracting'spring mounted in said breech-block and arrangedto normally press said electrode back from the cartridge, and a trigger which, When pulled, presses said electrode forward against the tension of said spring, substantially as set forth.

6. In abreechloading gun having an immovable barrel and a movable breech-block, the combination,with said breech-block, of an insulated electrode mounted therein and moving therewith and having an independent movement therein toward and from the cartridge, an electric battery in connection with said electrode and with the gun barrel or breechblock, a trigger connected to said electrode and adapted, when pulled, to move the same into contact with the cartridge, and a mechanical safety-lock for said trigger, consisting of an oscillating bar arranged close against and in the path of said trigger and having a notch which, when turned toward the trigger, admits the same, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

SAMUEL RUSSELL. Witnesses:

ARTHUR C. FRASER, E. B. BOLTON. 

